Brent Tate

Brent Tate

Tate while playing for Australia in 2008
Personal information
Born	3 March 1982 (1982-03-03) Roma, Queensland, Australia
Height	186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	88 kg (13 st 12 lb)
Playing information
Position	Centre, Wing
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2001–07	Brisbane Broncos	114	41	0	0	164
2008–10	NZ Warriors	48	12	0	0	48
2011–	North Queensland	9	4	0	0	16
	Total	171	57	0	0	228
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2002–08	Queensland	15	5	0	0	20
2002–10	Australia	23	16	0	0	64
2012	NRL All Stars	1	0	0	0	0
Source: RLP

Brent Tate (born 3 March 1982 in Roma, Queensland) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL). His position of choice is at centre but can also play on the wing.

Before joining the Cowboys, he played seven NRL seasons for the Brisbane Broncos (2001–2007) and three for the New Zealand Warriors (2008–2010). He was a member of the 2006 NRL premiership-winning Broncos team. He has played in 23 Tests for Australia and 15 State of Origin matches for Queensland.

Early years

Born in Roma, Queensland, Tate attended Clontarf Beach State High School. He later moved to Toowoomba to pursue a career in Rugby League.^{[citation needed]} After playing with the Redcliffe Dolphins, he was signed by the Brisbane Broncos,

Professional career

Brisbane Broncos (2001–2007)

Tate made his National Rugby League debut in round 21 of the 2001 season, in a match against the Melbourne Storm. He earned his first representative honours in 2002, playing for Queensland in Game 3 of that year's State of Origin series. He was named the Broncos' rookie of the year, and was selected for the Australian Kangaroos both in a one-off Test in July and at the end of the 2002 season.

Tate continued his good form in 2003, moving into the starting side for all 3 State of Origin games and scoring 2 tries in Game 3. He was again selected for Australia in the Anzac Test. However, Tate suffered a career-threatening neck injury that has affected him ever since – his career has only been prolonged with the aid of a special neck brace.

In action in the 2008 RLWC

His neck injury kept him out of the beginning of the 2004 season, but recovered in time for the Anzac Test, and continued to earn representative selection for both Queensland and Australia. 2005 was a disappointing season for Tate, with further injuries preventing him from playing State of Origin. However, he was again selected for the Tri-Nations competition.

In 2006, Tate was again injured for the first part of the season, but made a shock comeback in Game I of the State of Origin. In Game III, Tate scored a crucial try, beginning a Queensland comeback that led to them winning the match and the series. He was named man-of-the-match. Tate was also an integral part of the Brisbane Broncos' 2006 NRL Grand Final-winning team that year, once again being rewarded with national selection.

On 30 May 2007, it was announced that Tate would be leaving the Broncos at the end of the 2007 season to sign with the New Zealand Warriors on a three year contract. He decided to join the Warriors due to the opportunity to play in the centres. His career with the Brisbane Broncos was cut short while playing for Queensland during Game 3 of the 2007 State of Origin series, where he suffered a season-ending knee injury to the medial and anterior cruciate ligament.

New Zealand Warriors (2008–2010)

Tate made his Warriors debut in Round 1, 2008 against the Melbourne Storm at the Telstra Dome.

In August 2008, Tate was named in the Australia training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, and in October 2008 he was selected in the final 24-man Australia squad. However due to injury he did not play in the final of the World Cup, with the Australia national rugby league team going to lose the final to the New Zealand national rugby league team 20-34.

Tate's 2009 season was cut short, when in a Round 3 clash against his former club Brisbane Broncos, he suffered another season-ending injury when he damaged his anterior cruciate ligament in the process of being tackled.

He returned to the field in 2010, and with injuries early in the season to Steve Price, Simon Mannering and Micheal Luck, Tate stood-in as skipper. In the two matches he captained, Tate's Warriors won one match and lost the other.

On 23 June 2010, Tate announced that his three-year stay at the Warriors was over, opting to return to his home state of Queensland to play for the North Queensland Cowboys. Tate cited the decision as the "toughest he has ever had to make".

He played for Australia in the 2010 Four Nations tournament.

North Queensland Cowboys (2011–)

Tate's first season with the Cowboys, 2011, was disrupted by the rupturing of his cruciate ligament in the Four Nations tournament the previous November. The injury forced him to undergo a knee reconstruction for the third time in his career. The injury caused him to consider retirement; however, he recovered to make his debut for the Cowboys in round 19 of the 2011 season, and played in the team's qualifying final loss to the Manly Sea Eagles.

Personal life

Tate is the brother-in-law of Steve Price, with whom he played for the Warriors, Queensland and Australia.